In times of drought, it’s mateship and the generosity of others that keep people pushing through. Drought relief deliveries, like the one to Collarenebri on Saturday, mean the world to a community doing it tough, and though the donations themselves only have a small impact on the huge job of feeding thousands of hungry mouths, it’s the positive affect of getting people off farm for a few hours to have a chat and a beer that makes it all worthwhile. Determined to make a difference to the Collarenebri community and provide a little bit of hope, Bree Pring, Tegan George and Maddison Richards form McGregor Gourlay in Moree rallied together the community to raise funds for drought-affected farmers in the Moree district. READ MORE: In addition to the $24,000 raised at the Moree Drought Muster auction, people and businesses from far and wide donated two pallets of dog food, a pallet of stock feed, $5,500 worth of gift vouchers, a $5,000 donation from AxiChem which was used to purchase stock feed, and pamper packs. Rolling into Collarenebri on Saturday morning with a B-double load of stock feed and a truck load of hay, boxes of non-perishables, pamper packs, dog food, and water, 30 families from the community got to leave behind the monotony of drought for a few hours. Local grazier, Sue Lees, Tipperary, said it's a sad fact of life in the community that everyone is seasoned to the drought. "We've been here so long and it's just an everyday thing now," she said. "Days like today are so good for them men – ladies can go out to CWA meetings and patchwork club, but the men don't get that chance. “Even if it's just for 30 minutes, it gives the men a chance to catch up with guys they haven't seen in forever because they're all too busy feeding."

Moree community rallies for those in drought

Drought relief generosity visits Collarenebri | Photos

Sue Lees, Tipperary, Collarenebri, Sophie Lees, Ringwood, Collarenebri, and Tina Phipps, Collarenebri. Tina and her husband, Chris, are contract stockmen in the region and Tina said it's been a tough few years since drought first gripped the region in 2012. "The hardest part of it all is the smell of death - it's something that you can't seem to get away from," she said. "Work has been minimal because people don't have the stock of the funds, but we just keep poking along and hope it rains."

Drought relief angels: it's the generosity of others that keeps people going in the tough times.

Margaret and Jeff Colless, Bellevue, Collarenebri. Jeff said they've been luckier than some in the region. "We're cropping so we can park the tractor and not have to watch stock die," he said. "I went through the 1965 drought and people weren't generous back then. It's amazing the generosity of people today."

John Witts, Munargo, Collarenebri, and Ian Osbourne, Pittsworth. John has had all of his cattle away on agistment since Easter, and has been feeding 3500 sheep for the past 18 months. "The last crop we had was in 2016, but it's going to rain and it's another day in paradise."

Andrew Bruer, Karoola, Collarenebri, and Robert Turnbull, Bando, Collarenebri. Robert said they had gone through 450 tonnes of cotton seed, 300t of faba beans and eight road trains of hay since 2016. " We've only had eight months since 2012 where we haven't had to hand feed," he said. "We had 500 cows and calves but had to sell them off in 2015, and now we're feeding 9000 sheep, which is half of what we'd run in a good year."

Clive Finlay and Lily Hatenthaler, The Wilgas, Collarenebri. Clive said the generosity of others meant a lot to the people of Collarenebri. " We've been here for eight years and haven't had a good year yet," he said. "That's eight years in a row of less than half of our average rainfall, and no one else in this drought, apart from the people here today, can say that."

In times of drought, it’s mateship and the generosity of others that keep people pushing through.

Drought relief deliveries, like the one to Collarenebri on Saturday, mean the world to a community doing it tough, and though the donations themselves only have a small impact on the huge job of feeding thousands of hungry mouths, it’s the positive affect of getting people off farm for a few hours to have a chat and a beer that makes it all worthwhile.

Determined to make a difference to the Collarenebri community and provide a little bit of hope, Bree Pring, Tegan George and Maddison Richards form McGregor Gourlay in Moree rallied together the community to raise funds for drought-affected farmers in the Moree district.

In addition to the $24,000 raised at the Moree Drought Muster auction, people and businesses from far and wide donated two pallets of dog food, a pallet of stock feed, $5,500 worth of gift vouchers, a $5,000 donation from AxiChem which was used to purchase stock feed, and pamper packs.

Rolling into Collarenebri on Saturday morning with a B-double load of stock feed and a truck load of hay, boxes of non-perishables, pamper packs, dog food, and water, 30 families from the community got to leave behind the monotony of drought for a few hours.

Local grazier, Sue Lees, Tipperary, said it's a sad fact of life in the community that everyone is seasoned to the drought.

"We've been here so long and it's just an everyday thing now," she said.

"Days like today are so good for them men – ladies can go out to CWA meetings and patchwork club, but the men don't get that chance.

“Even if it's just for 30 minutes, it gives the men a chance to catch up with guys they haven't seen in forever because they're all too busy feeding."